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Guidelines and Policies

Australia

AMA Code of Ethics
Australian Medical Association
The AMA Code of Ethics articulates and promotes a body of ethical principles to guide doctors’ conduct in their relationships with patients, colleagues and society.

Code of Professional Conduct [PDF] NSW
Medical Council of NSW
Outlines the duties of a doctor registered with the NSW Medical Board, including maintaining professional competence, what to do if things go wrong or when a patient dies.

Standards for General Practice Cth
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
“The RACGP Standards for general practices (4th edition) are designed to keep Australian general practice at the heart of an effective and efficient Australian health care system. The Standards are based on a framework of good governance – a framework which ultimately makes all members of the general practice team accountable for patient safety and high quality clinical care.”

Canada

UK

Good Medical Practice
General Medical Council
Good Medical Practice sets out the principles and values on which good practice is founded; these principles together describe medical professionalism in action. The guidance is addressed to doctors, but it is also intended to let the public know what they can expect from doctors.

Organisations and Services

Australia

Australian Medical Association (AMA)
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is the peak membership organisation representing the registered medical practitioners (doctors) and medical students of Australia.

Canada

Canadian Bioethics Society
Providing a range of relevant information, this site is intended as a resource for current and future members of the CBS, as well as for any other individuals or organizations interested in bioethical issues.

Joint Centre for Bioethics
University of Toronto
A partnership between the University of Toronto and affiliated healthcare organizations. The JCB studies important ethical, health-related topics through research and clinical activities.

USA

American Society for Bioethics and Humanities
The purpose of ASBH is to promote the exchange of ideas and foster multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and interprofessional scholarship, research, teaching, policy development, professional development, and collegiality among people engaged in all of the endeavors related to clinical and academic bioethics and the health-related humanities.

Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics
The mission of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics is to conduct advanced scholarship on the ethics of clinical practice, biomedical science, and public health, both locally and globally, and to engage students, trainees, the public, and policy-makers in serious discourse about these issues.

Kansas Health Ethics (KHE) EUA
The mission of Kansas Health Ethics is to provide education about the essential role of health ethics in quality of life decision making.

The Hastings Center
The Hastings Center is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit bioethics research institute founded in 1969. The Center’s mission is to address fundamental ethical issues in the areas of health, medicine, and the environment as they affect individuals, communities, and societies.

International Association of Bioethics
The International Association of Bioethics aims to be truly international, linking all those working in bioethics and related fields, facilitating mutual contact, and encouraging the discussion of cross-cultural aspects in bioethics.

Medical Council of India (MCI)
The Medical Council of India (MCI) is a statutory body with the responsibility of establishing and maintaining high standards of medical education and recognition of medical qualifications in India – Code of Ethics Regulations, 2002 (Amended up to December 2010).

Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy
The Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy is dedicated to the three-fold mission of research, education, and service. The Institute serves the students and faculty of the Stritch School of Medicine, healthcare professionals and patients of Loyola University Health System, and professionals from the regional community and across the nation.

Nuffield Council on Bioethics
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is an independent body that examines and reports on ethical issues in biology and medicine. It was established by the Trustees of the Nuffield Foundation in 1991, and since 1994 it has been funded jointly by the Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council.

TED.com
The website is provided as a public service to promote the spread of good ideas. It welcomes anyone willing to join it in this pursuit.

UNESCO International Bioethics Committee
The International Bioethics Committee (IBC) is a body of 36 independent experts that follows progress in the life sciences and its applications in order to ensure respect for human dignity and freedom. It was created in 1993.

Papers, Reports and Books

Australia

Ethics and law for the Health Professions 2013
Authors: Ian Kerridge, Michael Lowe, Cameron Stewart
A cross-disciplinary book covering the spectrum of health care. Useful as both a teaching resource or handbook for those working within the medical profession.

Journal of Bioethical Inquiry
Discussion and debate on ethical, cultural and social issues arising in medicine, the health sciences and health care in general.

USA

American Journal of Bioethics
AJOB
The aim of AJOB and their website bioethics.net is to provide the clinical, legal, academic, scientific, religious and broad community-at-large with up to date, comprehensive debate on issues in bioethics.

Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics
Quarterly Journal designed to address the challenges of biology, medicine and healthcare and to meet the needs of professionals serving on healthcare ethics committees in hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and rehabilitation centres.

Journal of Clinical Ethics
Written for and by physicians, nurses, attorneys, clergy, ethicists, and others whose decisions directly affect patients.

Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics
American Society for Law, Medicine and Ethics
Articles on public health, health disparities, patient safety and quality of care, biomedical science and research.

Hastings Centre Report
The Hastings Centre
Explores the ethical, legal and social dimensions in health care, medicine, public health and life sciences.

Virtual Mentor
American Medical Association
An open access online medical ethics journal. explores the ethical issues and challenges that students, residents, and other physicians are likely to confront in their training and daily practice. The journal is student and resident driven.

The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Medicine
(1982) NEJM 306(11):639-345
Author: EJ Cassel
This article offers a description of the nature and causes of suffering in patients undergoing medical treatment, drawing a distinction between physical pain and suffering. Doctors have an obligation both to relief suffering and cure disease.